Thursday | 08.12.10

Hey guys,

This Thursday lets do Spaghetti. Leave a comment on what you can bring.

1. Bread

2. Fruit

3. Drinks

4.Dessert

See you guys then!

jd

Implications

Here is what I want our MC to do this week…. it can be tomorrow, but isn’t restricted to being that day/night. Instead of gathering all 20 people at our house get together with three or four other people and talk through the implication guide that was given out Sunday. If we are going to be a people who rebuild this city through communities of gospel light spread throughout it we will have to be saturated in the story and increasingly living in light of the truths we can read of there. I’ve seen us come so far as a community in living out of the True Story, but I want to keep pushing us to be faithful in doing so. That being said DOWNLOAD THIS.

If you are looking or praying towards starting a community with some other people within our MC, I’d encourage you to go to call those people up. Be proactive and start lining it up today, most of us have tomorrow night marked out so that makes it a prime time to get together. Don’t feel like you have to get together with “your next MC” though, enjoy some of the friendships that you have made over the past two years and discuss some amazing truths found in Ephesians.

Here’s why implications instead of applications. An application is something that I do to put a new rule in my life. But we are convinced that the gospel does not just give new rules. Rather it tells me an alternate story that we are living by. We are implicated by the reality of what is true. We don’t apply God’s word to the reality of our lives, but wrap our lives around the reality presented in God’s Story. So, in this guide you are going to ask the questions, “What truths come out in this passage? How am I implicated by this passage (think through your life situations, marriage, kids, school, moving and see how those truths implicate you in those situations)? Will I live in line with what is true or by a lie? Please make it through all three of the questions, we can tend to stop at the first one and bask in our excellent insights.

So get dinner, make dinner, throw on a pot of coffee and sit around a table and discuss the implications of the passages given to you on Sunday. After you get together with the smaller group come back on this site and make sure at least one person from it posts the implications you saw from the chunks of Ephesians you read together.

Text or call if you have any questions….

Mix-N-It-Up

I want to mix it up this week. I know it’s easier to get together at our house all at one place at one time and have the food mostly made when you get there, but this week lets do something different. What I want you to do is intenationally arrange some space in your week to get together with 3-4 other people (that’s no more than 5 total and no less than 3 so no couples just doing it together) to talk about life and this bless-grid.

I know it takes some work, but I’d even encourage you to get together with some of the people who aren’t your usual “go-to” people. Hang out, invite a few of our MC over to your house, enjoy some food and drinks, and talk about how your lives are continually being oriented back around the gospel. Then next week we will be back together at our place. See ya next week. You should have everyones e-mail if not cell phone by this point, but if you need someones number hit me up and I’ll get it to you.

Burgers and Buns

We are going to grill some burgers for dinner tomorrow night. Linds has the burgers and buns, so we will need to bring some sides and drinks (we got dessert.)  Be over by 6.30.  Some ideas are:

Chips

Cheese

Salad? Potato, Pasta, Salad

Tomatoes, Onions, Lettuce

Whatever else you want….

Ice/Drinks
Please POST what you are bringing.

Also going to be talking through the identities for the next few weeks and then working through what it could tangibly look like to live them out each week.  Taking an ID a week starting with family. I really am convicted that we need to start with who we are before we form around what we do.  I’m praying this is a deeper and fuller conversation after a year of living it.

Fire it Up

Let’s just grill this week. Bring something to throw on the grill, meat, veggies, etc. We’ll run the grill from 6.30-7 so get there in time to throw your stuff on.

As far as conversation goes, we’ll be talking through the BLESS rhythms and then what it looks like for us to live them out together over the next few months.

Just a reminder: Tuesday not Wed.

Tuesdays are the new Wed.

We are going to be getting together on Tuesday nights now instead of Wed.  The people who e-mailed back said it worked better/as good as wed. so it’s on.

Dizzert and Coffee

Look at this- I’m a week ahead in posting. So this week please make it a priority to be here wed. night.

1. No dinner, but we will have desserts and coffee/hot chocolate.

2. We will get together at 7pm. Please plan on sticking around until 9.

3. Meet up with at least one other person in the mc before Wed. to talk through chapter 7. POST the person you are meeting up with. (for real- not just pretend- this gives you a week and some accountability) If you are married try getting together with someone who doesn’t share your last name.

4. We will be hanging out in the living room and having a “family meeting” as my family used to call them.

5. I don’t have anything, but the list seemed more complete with 5.

see ya Saturday.

Kevin.

Spaghetti = Simple

let’s keep it simple this week and do spaghetti.

grocery list:

salad
drinks & ice
bread
dessert
2lbs of ground beef (or turkey if you are feeling lean).

Post what you are bringing- see ya at 6.30- TK primer was pretty solid this week. Come with some thoughts / questions / convictions that are hitting you as you process. We will also be planning Xmas party at linds casa.

No More Turkey

So I think we’ve had turkey five different ways since thanksgiving and I might be out of creative ways to remix that recipe. Since I’m sure a lot of us have been grubbin’ out on meat the last few days I bought we’d do something different. You guys up for a baked potato bar?

We need: (post what you are bringing)

2 packs of bacon (c’mon you know I couldn’t do completely vegetarian- if you are bringing this come early enough to cook it)
Sour cream
Broccoli
Cheese
Dessert drinks.
(anything else to go on top?)

We’ve had three weeks to wrestle through the tk primer so I’m sure we will have some good discussion- plus Kay and I have some stuff we’d like to spend some time praying over.
See you wed at 6.30 if not before.

A Praying People

A few weeks ago I got the chance to sit down with a pastor/professor who is a wizard on the missional church.  His writings and observations have been priceless as I pastor Missio Dei.  Chris and I asked him the what things he’d want to make sure were true of a dude before he planted a church. His answer was:

1.  Does He know/believe the gospel?

2.  Does He pray?

The reason he was so focused on prayer was that the extent and intensity of a persons prayers illustrate how much they really believe the gospel. Let me say it again, our prayer life demonstrates how much we truly believe the gospel. Sound a little dramatic?

If we have a religious mindset we will see prayer as an add on for bonus points with Jesus and not that necessary- unless we are really stuck or feeling really guilty. We treat the infinite, almighty, and all powerful God like our own personal sugar daddy.  If we have an irreligious view of prayer, we tend to think that our time, energy, creativity, and money are enough to do everything we are called to do so we don’t need God.  We don’t need a savior, we can save ourselves from the brokenness that invades our lives.  However, if our lives are wrapped around the gospel we know we are not capable of living out our Gospel identities without the power of God- and so we desperately rely on prayer.  We become acutely aware that we can’t possibly live out the mission of God without the power of God and so we pray.  People who are being shaped by the gospel will always be a praying people.

We aren’t getting together as a whole MC for the next two weeks, but we still need to be desperately advocating for our friends, our family, and our city in prayer. Post some of what we can be praying about on this blog if you want, but even better would be smaller groups of our MC getting together to pray.  Not just talk about praying, but actually pray. Thank God for his goodness that means he provides what we need.  Stand in awe at his greatness.  Ask him to overwhelm and empower you with the fact that he is the most glorious.  Bask in his grace that lets you freely come before the holy God of the universe with confidence regardless of what you have done because of what Jesus has done. Ask him to direct our MC where we should be investing? Then listen, hear what he wants to say.

What do you want prayer for?